1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a data processing device and a printing device to inform a user of an error status when an error occurs while the printing device performs a printing operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the configurations of printers well-known in the art have been simplified. For example, LCD display units in the printers have been omitted, the number of switches has been decreased, and the control panels have been simplified.
As a result, when a printing error occurs, the printer itself cannot display the problem due to the simplified configuration. However, since it is necessary that the user be notified with an error message when an error occurs, one method known in the art is to print the error message on printing paper. This method will be referred to as error print output operation.
Another method known in the art is to display the error messages on the display unit of a data processing device, such as a personal computer. To achieve this method, the printing device does not simply receive print data and commands from the data processing device, but also transmits a type of status signals, or "error signals," to the data processing device.